It happens too often. Far too often. I am sitting at my desk, minding my own business, struggling to fit my knees in the measly space between my chair and the one in front of me and then, boom. Whoever is sitting in front of me leans back, they begin flipping, whipping and moving their hair way more than is appropriate for a class. In this series of unnecessary and distracting movements, the offender’s hair flips back and settles. It settles right across my computer screen. I do not care how much you shampoo and/or condition. I do not feel any desire to smell your Garnier or Pantene or whatever you use. I do not want to be involved with a stranger’s hair. It’s…well, just plain icky.

I’m hit with a wave of panic. How do I react? I could ignore the intrusion, but this would mean being unable to see or use my laptop, which essentially the same as forfeiting the class. I could switch to taking handwritten notes, but in my experience this runs the risk of my pencil becoming tangled with said hair, further escalating the situation. I could tap the offender’s shoulder and ask them to move their hair, but this could be distracting to the class and involves a great deal more confrontation than I am comfortable with initiating. I could move the hair myself, but touching a stranger’s hair feels simultaneously nasty and creepy. I suppose I could use a pencil to move the hair, but this eliminates the nasty and keeps the creepy. The only feasible option becomes to awkwardly maneuver my laptop out from its hairy prison in a discreet enough manner to avoid making things weird(er?). However, this victory only lasts a few moments until the hair is flipped once again and my laptop is either pulled back into the prison or I must position myself sideways, pulling my computer to my chest in a desperate attempt to keep both of us safe.

Taking over other people’s desks is not just an offense done by those with long hair; during the colder months, fluffy winter coats are often shed without care and left covering the desk behind it. I don’t care if you spent $1,000 on your Canada Goose. If you want to wrap your face in coyote skins, that’s your (immoral) business. However, I for one really do not want to touch it. In general, the hoods of other people’s winter coats are nearly impossible to move off of your desk yourself without simply flipping it onto the head of their respective owners. The other (and only feasible) option is to ask the owner to move their coat, which means an awkward social interaction. No. Thank. You.

There is a solution to this struggle, one that can be done without forcing everyone to have shorter hair or go hoodless. One so simple I feel it should not even need to be said, but here we are: Everyone could be mildly considerate of other people. Shocking, I know. Just be mindful of where you are in space. Don’t spread your possessions (hair or otherwise) across more desks than one person is meant to be taking up in a classroom. I know these actions are not done purposely—humanities classrooms are often so cramped that it I cannot sit straight and fit my legs within the confines of the chair. But still, it is no secret that the rooms are cramped. Everyone should be aware enough of the limited space to know to watch the amount of space they are occupying. Do not inhibit other students’ ability to learn and think about more than the course material the next time you go to class.